The EU and China are launching a project with to cut global emissions of greenhouse gases, giving Europe emission quotas and “greening” coal-fired power stations in China.

In 2005, France launched competitive clusters to encourage research universities to support innovation. The same philosophy is driving universities to pool their R&D competencies, restructure – and even merge.

The open-source software company Red Hat is opening a centre for support and R&D in Serbia, building on a project initiated in 2005 by Belgrade University to create an incubator for new technologies.

Venture capitalists are on a roll: in the past week two more firms confirmed the closing of significant new funds, to add to five others announced this year.